For music lovers of all ages, from the novice to the connoisseur, here is an extraordinary look-read-do-and-listen package of discovery and diversion. The Music Pack is filled with paper instruments, including piano and complete orchestra, 3-D models, and a 75-minute CD featuring 20 masterpieces of Western music from the recording archives of EMI Classics. (Performing Arts)
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Nothing spurs sequels like success, and the unexpected hit two years ago of Knopf's The Art Pack, which sold nearly 150,000 copies, rendered another such book inevitable. This one, put together by the same English paper engineer and designer, working with composer and broadcaster Berkeley, is an attempt to do for music what its predecessor did for the visual arts. The real problem, of course, is that music is not visual, and though a great deal of ingenuity has gone into creating pop-up and movable instruments, scales, time signatures, piano interiors, orchestra layouts and the like, the effect is gimmicky rather than inevitable (there are even tiny drumsticks to beat on pop-up drums). The real plus in educating readers about serious music is, paradoxically, the least visual: a 75-minute, well-annotated CD that includes a surprisingly eclectic selection of "Twenty Masterpieces" with only one real chestnut-the Hallelujah Chorus from Messiah-and such august choices as pieces by Josquin, Palestrina and Monteverdi, as well as unhackneyed moments from Bach, Mozart, Debussy, Wagner, Verdi, even Janacek. Plenty of novelty value, a fun gift, but don't expect the impact of Art Pack. 100,000 printing; BOMC alternate.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Review
This impressive gift-sized package is highly recommended for year-round giving to any avid music fan. Blend paper instruments you can take out and 'play' with instructional pop-ups and a 75-minute CD and you have a blend of music history and creative applications which should interest all ages. -- Midwest Book Review
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A book of musical treasures,
This review is from: The Music Pack (Hardcover)
Oh my, stop reading and click on the order button! If you have children and want their musical horizons expanded, you must have "The Music Pack!"
The accompanying CD alone is worth the price. Listen: Josquin's "Kyrie" by the Hilliard Ensemble, Palestrina's "Kyrie" (so different) by King's College Choir, Monteverdi's "Su pastorelli" (a madrigal) by Taverner Consort and Players, Purcell's "When I am laid in earth" (one of my most favorite pieces of music) from his opera, Dido and Aeneas, performed by Mermaid Singers and Orchestra. Other well-represented composers are Handel, Bach, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Wagner, Chopin, Verdi, Brahms, Janacek, Mahler, Debussy, Stravinsky, and Alban Berg.(Wow, I just heard an excerpt from Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique, which I have never before heard. The book lists the complete titles for those interested in complete pieces of music instead of just excepts or short pieces.) Little Lars and Samantha will gain so much from this music pack (as well as Mom and Dad, or whoever are the caretakers). Just open the over-sized book and look at the basics of music: voice, musical notation, the piano keys with the C Major scale overlaid, how sounds looks. Pull this, take this out, open this, ratchet this, fun stuff to do to go with the narrative. Next two pages reveal more excitement, this time of how instruments work, their reeds, how an organ works, harmonica, and so on. More activities! Two pages of piano development are next with a pop-up piano, three piano virtuosos. With the percussion pages you get pop-up drums, a take-out drum membrane with little attached beads as strikers. Now the entire orchestra pops up, including a conductor. Must have him! History of the development and the opera are provided. Then the 20th century is laid out in a two-page spread of color illustrations of important figures, including Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Gilbert and Sullivan, Frank Sinatra, vinyl, cassettes, and CDs, George and Ira Gershwin, Bernstein, and music videos. World music makes the scene with a pull-out illustrating where various music forms developed: reggae, salsa, disco, calypso, blues, flemenco, jazz, and rap. Finally, a wall chart 24 x 11 is a summation of the book, including the "twenty masterpieces" on the CD, the periods of music, and then the 20th cent. figures and music. Accompanying the CD is a Commentary briefly explaining (stop, I'm listening to an excerpt from Beethoven's Eroica, ok, it's over) all twenty pieces. Last, there is a little booklet with many musical terms from accidental and analogue sound to yodeling and zarzuela (a Spanish comic opera in which lines are spoken instead of the usual recitative). I cannot believe I have had this Music Pack for years and never opened it, but now I can put it to good use and let my great-nieces and nephew have it for the summer. Maybe they will be inspired to become musical!
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Music Pack by Ron Van Der Meer and Michael Berkeley,
A Kid's Review
This review is from: The Music Pack (Hardcover)
This book is definitely one of the best books I have ever read.With its awesome 3-D pop-ups,this book is surely a book that everyone in your family would enjoy. Even if you are four year of age there are still things to do in this book! It has pop-up instruments that you can actually play! The book tells you about world music, and also comes with a CD full of classcal music.It includes timelines of various musical masters throughout the centuries.This book is packed with so much information that if you were to read it you would instantly become educated in how to use instruments and how music is created. I highly recommend this book to any music lover, or music teacher. I have been playing two instruments for about three years, and this book is just as fun as playing the real thing!
5.0 out of 5 stars
Our whole family really likes this book!,
By mommy hendy "mommy hendy" (OH United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Music Pack (Hardcover)
We just got this book from a library sale without the cd and drumsticks. It captivated me when I first saw it and it continues to do so. My children like it as well and they are 6 and under. They like it so much that I have to hide it so they do not lose all of the pieces! The visualization of how music is created and the notes of each scale is amazing and I wish I had it while I was in school. I know that it would be even better if I had the cd and the drumsticks! Does anyone know how I could acquire them?
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